In the latest James Bond movie, Skyfall, a Modigliani makes a brief appearance when Woman with a Fan, stolen from the Museum of Modern Art in Paris two years ago, is put on an easel and shown to a kingpin who is then assassinated.
The fact this rather artistically shot scene is set in Shanghai, and the potential buyer a Chinese, is not altogether unrealistic. If art sales results over the past couple of years are anything to go by, appreciation of fine arts among mainland collectors (and possibly crime bosses, who knows?) does seem to have gone beyond classical Chinese inks and antiquities and into Western masterpieces. It's not uncommon for international auction houses to tour these works in their exhibitions around this region these days.
I'm constantly asked whether Hongkongers, especially those of the younger generation, are interested in the arts (visual or performing). My answer is that the number is not big, but it's growing.
Overseas visitors always remark on how wonderful it is to see so many young faces in our concert halls when compared to cities such as New York and London. Having arts groups, such as the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, which focus a good part of their programming in arts education and audience building, also helps.
Local drama productions - whether in Cantonese/Putonghua or English - are seldom short of an audience. Recent efforts by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department as well as the Hong Kong Arts Festival to groom a new generation of homegrown playwrights means new works are being produced that are relevant to contemporary theatre-goers.
Dance - especially contemporary - remains niche, even though dance companies spend a great deal of their resources in reaching out to a broader audience.